[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 40 (Thursday, April 14, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: April 14, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
       A COMPREHENSIVE AND BALANCED APPROACH URGED FOR CRIME BILL

  (Ms. ESHOO asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. ESHOO. Mr. Speaker, today as we deliberate the crime bill, many 
Americans are preparing their tax returns or have recently mailed them 
in.
  They are fulfilling their responsibility as good citizens and meeting 
the requirements of citizenship.
  Mr. Speaker, today as well, every 2 minutes someone in America is 
shot. And every quarter of an hour somebody dies from a gun wound.
  It is a fact, Mr. Speaker, every time our emergency room doors open 
for a gunshot victim, it is going to cost someone an average of 
$33,000.
  And that someone is the American taxpayer. Most of the gunshot 
victims who come through the emergency rooms do not have adequate 
insurance. That leaves the taxpayer to absorb those costs.
  Mr. Speaker, the crime issue is not only an issue involving freedom 
from fear of violence. It is an economic issue, and it is a public 
health issue.
  Today, as we deliberate this legislation, we should remember that our 
crime problems are not going to be solved by trying to put more people 
to death or filling our prisons up at a faster rate.
  Our responsibility requires us to take a comprehensive and balanced 
approach that includes the range of prevention, habeas corpus and 
racial justice provisions and addresses violent crime. It is not only 
the right thing to do, it is the fiscally sound thing to do as well.

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